Retro Action Heroes Hit the Shelves

[megomania]

Nothing but empty pegs at the one TRU in North Seattle...I might check one more on the way home but since I already have mine I'm not going to search the entire area

[bjack99]

Received 2nd Shipment in Tucson

Tucson TRU has thier 2nd shipment out.

[ScottA]

Nothing at mine yet again today.

[Marvelmania]

Nothing at mine yet again today.

Same here. 3rd time I've checked in the past couple of weeks.

[starsky]

looks just like mine. just 2 luthors and 1 sinestro warming the pegs.

[Jerry68]

I went to Indianapolis today on business. I call one store, nothing. The second, jackpot. Twenty minutes later I see the whole set at toys r us. I picked up another green lantern. He also has a small chip on his nose and the emblem looks like it was stretched. I don't care that much because just seeing them there reminded me of went I went to visit my Aunt in San Francisco and she took me to toys r us and bought me a superman. I hope this generation has this type of memory when they are 41. Pretty Cool.

[kryptosmaster]

Good question. I think it may have alot to do with the production volume. Those Joes were plentiful in just about every Walmart in America. Alot more Walmarts than TRU's and the toy stores haven't been ordering them in huge volumes from the reports coming in. Now if Walmart ever picked this up, yeah I could see a huge reduction in price. The volume discount would be incredible. We can dream...

Things that make you go, hmmmmm.
Actually that makes more sense now (the $20 tag). Keeping the figures out of Wal-mart, Target, etc keeps the price up.Only one way to get them...T.R.U..
No competition=set your own price.
Very sneaky Mattel.
Rich

[bgrimm77]

Manchester , Concord , and Nashua New Hampshire still have not received them yet.

[geoffdude]

Things that make you go, hmmmmm.
Actually that makes more sense now (the $20 tag). Keeping the figures out of Wal-mart, Target, etc keeps the price up.Only one way to get them...T.R.U..
No competition=set your own price.
Very sneaky Mattel.
Rich

It's not a matter of being "sneaky".. It's pure economics. The more volume of a product that is made equates to the lower price per unit during production, thus the price per unit for sale is also lower. The less volume produced of an item equates to less product to sell, for the same cost for production, BUT, the price per unit for sale must rise for each unit to cover the total production cost.

BTW - Mattel sets the retail price (not TRU ultimately) by setting the wholesale price. TRU, like Target, Walmart, Kmart etc. have a profit margin in place for all sales. That retail price (profit margin) is set at a certain percentage point higher than the wholsale price each store is charged per product per manufactorer.
g.

[Hector]

Hector you are right!

I felt like going to CHild WOrld back in 1980 because I knew I could find a Star Wars ESB FX-7 there cause my buddy just got home with one.

That is exactly how I felt.

I just stared at these guys for about 10 minutes.

Absolutely...that's why this release at a major outlet like Toys T Us is so thrilling...the time traveling back to the 70s...not the quality of the figure itself.

[MegoMark71]

i live 50 miles from the closest one but i'm checking Thursday.

[CrimsonGhost]

Now, this IS a comment about the value for the dollar. It's just my opinion and I don't mean to start any trouble, but I would like to respectfully point out that the Adventure Team 12" GI Joe figures were selling at Wal*Mart for around $10 just a few years ago. They used more plastic to manufacture than the Retro Action figures, they had the fuzzy hair, more articulation, plus they also had removable clothes and were a similar nostalgia-driven product. I know that I'm not aware of all the details involved in the manufacturing of these figures, but even with the increase in oil costs in the last couple of years, I don't see how the Retro Action figures would cost enough to manufacture to justify a retail price that is double what the 12" GI Joe figures cost. I am not trying to complain, but as I mentioned above, I would think that information about our opinions would be something that the guys who are making these toys would want to know...especially since the price is the only factor that's keeping me from picking up the whole set right away.

I don't know if this is a relevant factor or not, but Hasbro owns GiJoe, Mattel is paying for a license to sell DC. It might not be just production costs.

[Uni]

Chico, CA Toys R Us had the entire shipment on one peg, perhaps arriving just last night!

There are still 2 each Sinestro and Luthor, and 1 each of GL and Superman.

Phone died or I'd have taken a picture of that peg.

[generic]

...The more volume of a product that is made equates to the lower price per unit during production, thus the price per unit for sale is also lower...

Good point!

BTW - Mattel sets the retail price (not TRU ultimately) by setting the wholesale price. TRU, like Target, Walmart, Kmart etc. have a profit margin in place for all sales. That retail price (profit margin) is set at a certain percentage point higher than the wholsale price each store is charged per product per manufactorer.
g.

That is very true except with Wal*Mart. From what I understand, in many instances Wal*Mart pretty much tell the manufacturer what they will pay them per unit. Because they order in probably the biggest quantities of anyone (and because they really don't NEED any one product), they are able to do that. They pretty much give the manufactures a 'take it or leave it' offer and if the manufacturer decides that it's enough of a profit, they're happy to have the guarantee of a huge preorder number from one company. This is a big part of how Wal*Mart keeps their prices so low.

I don't know if this is a relevant factor or not, but Hasbro owns GiJoe, Mattel is paying for a license to sell DC. It might not be just production costs.

I had thought of that and I'm sure that is part of the reason they need to charge more, but I suspect that geoffdude's comment about Wal*Mart being able to order in such HUGE quantities vs. Toys R Us is a bigger factor.



Side note: I went to the Toys R Us near me yesterday and they didn't have them. I asked the guy working if they had them and he had no idea what I was talking about. He did offer to look up in the system to see if they had them on the way, but couldn't find anything there either. Then again, while I was talking to him, a lady asked him if they had any military figures other than the GI Joe knock-offs we were standing next to and he told her "No, this section is all the military toys that we have" before walking away to check the system for the Retro Action figures for me. When he left, I told her that the GI Joe section was two isles up. How can you work at a toy store and NOT think of GI Joe when someone asks you for military figures???

[HardyGirl]

See...the quality of this product itself is not even relevant to me...it's the experience in reliving your childhood all over again...if I were the one taking this picture...I'd be feeling like I was back in the 70s...this is time machine stuff fellas...

I agree...it's about the era for me as well. I just wish that kids today could relive the excitement of the toy store back then. Of course I realize that's a pipedream, toys don't mean the same thing to kids today, but being a teacher, I'd love to hear the kids talk about these toys as kids did w/ Megos back in the day.